This summer past, we found ourselves 5000 miles away from home working at a transportation company. Both my husband and I were living in a 17 foot camper as we would only be staying until the end of August. The cities SPCA just happened to be across the street and we found the pull of all these animals waiting there, very strongly. Working daily, we would both would comment on the amount of homeless animals that resided there.

Both of us knew (or thought we knew) there was no way we could adopt a pet due to our circumstances at the time and with the limited room we had in the camper. We had already shipped our cat from home so another pet seemed beyond reality at that time. A little time passed and someone told us there were two American Cocker Spaniels for adoption. We had an American Cocker for 12 years but she had passed a few years ago. Both of us looked at each other and we knew that after work we would make a visit to see the dogs.

When we entered the building we were taken to a section where we met Jett and Tanner. Jett was black and Tanner (well the names explain their color) they were 3 years old. We fell in love right there and then and were quite willing to take Jett but soon found out that they were brothers and could not be separated. We took Jett out for a walk and returned him with a heavy heart knowing that we could certainly not be able take the two of them.

Each day we went to work we wondered if the dogs were still there, surely someone had adopted them by now they were just beautiful. A few week later we couldn’t stand it a minute longer and made another visit to the SPCA. Yep, they were still there so we went to see them again and decided that we would put more thought into adopting them.

We discussed it on a daily bases trying the sort out the pros and cons of bringing them home. Of course there were more cons than pros. We had found a large park just a few minutes away from where we lived and it was dog friendly so we figured that would work but what about the cat? How would that work in such close quarters? Would we be able to handle two dogs and the cat in a camper that was hardly big enough for us? All these questions were bantered around over the next week. I switched to night shift and my husband worked days so that would be a bit of an advantage as far as room was concerned.

The next week we had made up our minds, we wanted them! They had been in the SPCA since January and we knew we could provide all the love and care they needed. Off we went to the SPCA and started proceedings on adopting “our boys”. We had to fill out an application with very detailed questions about our life and where we lived along with other information. I thought that would be the end of it, they were not going to let us take two dogs with us, living in a camper ,so we decided to explain that we would be returning home and the dogs would have all the room they needed if we could just get through the few months of summer.

We waited for a few days before we heard from the SPCA, they had to check out our application before it could be approved or turned down. My mind was leaning towards being turned down by then. The phone rang and they were telling us we could pick up “our boys” when we were ready! It didn’t take us long to collect what was needed for them like toys, food, treats, collars (blue) leashes to match and a very large cage to fly them home in. The cat was placed into her travel cage and placed on one of the seats to be let out as needed and we came home with “our boys”. We were given all their medical records as well as a form that the previous owners had filled in about their temperament and what they would or wouldn’t do. I swear both dogs seemed happier than we were.

The cat turned out not to be a very big problem. We kept her in the cage for a few days and the dogs and the cat quickly became accustom to each other actually they didn’t have much choice in the matter our space determined that part. In fact after 3 days it was silly to even have the cat in her cage so the cage was put away and cat and dogs had free reign of what little space we had without any incidents at all. We kept the air-conditioner going so it was cool for everyone and we walked the dogs four times a day. It worked perfect!

The summer past and it was time for us to fly home. With the help of the airline we were soon on the plane and home in 12 hours. We had a two and a half hour drive after the plane ride but ‘our boys” came through like troopers. We are now all settled in at home and “our boys” have a wonderful life. They are still walked on a daily bases and have lots of freedom as we live in a very small community. They have had many adventures since we arrived home, they have been berry picking (I didn’t know dogs liked berries) they run on the fishermen’s wharf and they love us as we love them. Was it all worth it? Without a doubt it was worth it and I would do it all again. “Our boys” never run away they never leave our side. They have most of our bed at night and all of my attention during the day. My husband returned to work in late September and I was afraid the “boys” would not know him when he returned but once again they proved me wrong. It was unreal how they greeted him on his return a few weeks ago. How lucky we are to have them and I’m so glad we didn’t let the cons outweigh the pros.